Most of our office crossed campus today to attend a reception honoring Dr. Rex Gandy, the departing dean of the College of Science & Technology. Gandy is leaving to take a position as provost of Texas A&M University at Kingsville effective Aug. 1.

It’s a bit slower than usual in the Honors College in the summertime, but the best part of the summer is hearing where our recent graduates are headed for graduate and professional school.

The Staff Council, the organization that represents the interests of staff members on campus, recognized its incoming members in its annual luncheon today and offered accolades to folks who are cycling off the Council after years of hard work.

Slate, the online magazine, was kind enough to mention a book of mine in a post this week. I mention it only to reinforce that all of us in the College place a great emphasis on conducting research. We believe that the acquisition of research skills is a key component of an Honors College education, and that is why we require all of our students to do a senior thesis. I’ve continued my own research as dean because it’s something I enjoy, but I’m also delighted to practice what I preach in encouraging Honors students to research. I tell students that scholars — both of the faculty and of the student variety — seldom expect to make money in research, but we do it to advance an argument and contribute, in ways large and small (probably the latter in my case!), to knowledge. So I hope you’ll forgive the shameless plug; I’ll do anything to encourage our students to pursue their own scholarship.  

One of the joys of working in the Honors College is working with so many good students. One student I’ve been meaning to blog about is Lauren Auer of Mobile, who just finished her freshman year in the College.

Lauren managed as a freshman to become a published poet. Her poem was among just 18 creative works (of 3,000 submitted) chosen for the children’s book “Every Human Has Rights,” published in late 2008 by National Geographic. The book commemorates the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights by explaining and elaborating on those rights in evocative poetry and prose submitted by young writers like Lauren.

It’s a terrific honor, and a terrific poem as well. Congratulations, Lauren! You can read the poem by pointing your browser here:
Mother-Earth-To-Her-Child.htm

Our favorite time of the year is Graduation Day. There’s absolutely nothing more satisfying than seeing the students whom you’ve watched grow and develop over four years walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. Southern Miss held two commencements in Hattiesburg Friday and one on the Gulf Coast today.

There's no better way to end the semester than to highlight the accomplishments of our hard-working students.

Tonight we got to do just that in a reception honoring students who've applied for national scholarships in the past academic year. President Saunders hosted students, their parents, faculty, and administrators for snacks and a brief ceremony at the Lucas Administration Building.

What a group of students! This group has applied for -- and many of them have landed -- prestigious scholarships ranging from Phi Kappa Phi scholar grants to Goldwater Award recognition to the Morris Udall Scholarship. President Saunders highlighted many of the winners in her latest blog entry, so I won't repeat them here.

I will stress, however, the huge amount of work that goes into applying for these scholarships. Students literally work for weeks on the application process, and they're helped along by our many supportive faculty, who put hours of writing and rewriting into all-important recommendation letters. I can't tell you just how much we appreciate our supportive faculty.

Many thanks also go to Robyn Curtis, who is winding up her first year as our National Scholarship Officer. The College first hired a part-time scholarship officer four years ago, and the position switched to full-time this year. Robyn helps all university students, not just Honors College scholars, in applying for these national scholarships, and we're delighted to have her.